The Straight Dope on What Bath Salts Do to Your Brain and Why They're Dangerous

David DiSalvo
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I know you've probably already read a few articles about the deceptively named drugs called "bath salts" and their effects (or alleged effects, i.e. zombie cannibalism) so in this one we're going to get right to the point. Bath salts are dangerous for chiefly two reasons, and neither have anything to do with addiction or hallucinations.

The first reason is dosage, and the second is sleep deprivation.

Before addressing each of those in more detail, let's quickly go over what bath salts are and are not, and how they affect the brain.

First, the name "bath salts" doesn't refer to any single drug, but rather a group of substances with similar chemical properties. Most varieties contain either mephedrone or methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV). Both drugs are related to khat, an organic stimulant found in the Middle East and East African countries. Khat is illegal in the US because it contains cathinone, a Schedule 1 controlled substance according to the DEA.

Neither of these drugs are new; mephedrone has been bouncing around laboratories since the 1920s, MDPV since the late 1960s. Recreational use of the drugs is relatively new, dating back just a decade or so. Mephedrone is a stimulant and MDPV is both a stimulant and psychoactive drug. The qualifier "psychoactive" means that the drug crosses the blood-brain barrier and causes changes in neurochemical function, resulting in amplifying effects on mood, thought, perception and behavior.

Neither of these drugs are hallucinogens like LSD. Hallucinogens are psychoactive drugs, but not all psychoactive drugs are hallucinogens -- the primary difference being that hallucinogens induce changes in perception that are significantly different than normal consciousness, not merely an amplification of conscious states we already experience.

So, for example, someone who takes MDPV may find himself feeling extremely paranoid and panicky, but he's unlikely to believe that a giant lizard wearing a tuxedo is about to eat his cat.

(It bears noting, however, that since some varieties of bath salts are chemical grab bags containing any number of drugs, it's certainly possible that hallucinogens are occasionally in the mix.)

The comparison between bath salts and ecstasy (MDMA) is based on the results of a study on rats showing that MDMA and mephedrone have similar effects on the neurotransmitters dopamine and seratonin. The study also suggests that the long-term effects of mephedrone are less harmful than ecstasy, because the drug doesn't seem to deplete serotonin as severely as the favorite drug of rave goers worldwide. But, and this is a big but, these are the results of one study on rats, and the researchers were careful to point out that much more research needs to be done before we can draw any conclusions about long-term effects.

Are bath salts addictive? Yes, they probably are, and for roughly the same reason that ecstasy is addictive -- they cause the brain to limit reuptake of dopamine, which means more of the neurochemical is available in the brain and the brain really likes that. Over time the effect diminishes and more of the drug is required to keep the ball rolling.

Are bath salts addictive the way cocaine is addictive? No, probably not. The reason is that cocaine is an exceptionally addictive substance that appears to hook the brain in more than one way. While it produces the dopamine effect described above, it also has the potential of profoundly altering the body's circadian rhythms in such a way that not having the drug is physically devastating. In addition, cocaine's dopamine effect is much more intense than that of bath salts, or ecstasy for that matter. You could say that the bath salt effect is like stepping into a shower. The cocaine effect is more like stepping under a waterfall.

So if bath salts are potentially addictive, albeit not as addictive as cocaine, why am I saying that addiction is not the main problem?